


The Reaper at the Door

by RoseyR



Category: South Park
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Never Met, College, Death, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Grim Reapers, Heaven & Hell, Knitting, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nurses, POV Tweek Tweak, Reaper Craig Tucker, Reapers, Romance, Souls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 19:55:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20020135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseyR/pseuds/RoseyR
Summary: His skin was so pale and thin, he pretty much looked like a walking skeleton, but as I stared into those blue eyes of his, I can see they were full of life.





	The Reaper at the Door

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Another reaper Craig story! This one..boy...this one took me so long to come up with a plot for. I literally had to rewrite this like four to five times until I finally got something here, but yeah, I bring you a new story with everyone's favorite Craig au, Reaper Craig, cause I like writing him and junk :3
> 
> Well, hope you like the story folks! Enjoy!

The first time I met him, I was a young boy dealing with a sickness that had me going in and out of the hospital every other week. It was hard to breathe, my vision was blurry, and there was a constant ringing in my ears.

Doctors were trying their best to save me, my parents stood by, crying, and it was getting harder and harder to stay alive, wishing the pain would just go away.

My fingers were numb, I can barely move my head or limbs, and every breath I made felt like inhaling sharp glass. I couldn’t stop coughing, my nose was constantly bleeding, and tears pricked my very eyes.

I thought I was going to die, I’ve heard what the doctors have said to my parents, about how I wasn’t going to live much longer. Was this my time? Was this the day I die? Will I leave this place forever? Will the pain finally go away?

Honestly, I was terrified.

At that moment, I was scared of death. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to leave my body, I didn’t want to leave my friends and family. I wanted to live longer, I wanted to experience life a little longer, I wanted to stay alive. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair that I was going to die when I barely did anything with my life. I wanted to run like the other kids, I wanted to go to school like the other kids, I wanted to smell the fresh air without feeling pain, I wanted to scream, dance, sing, run, fight, play, and more. I wanted to be like all the kids I saw outside my house.

I wanted to live normally.

As I hear the heart monitor beeping much slower than normal, I knew that I don’t have much long. I looked around, hoping to see someone’s face more clearly, but all I saw were blurry blobs, getting darker and darker to see. I can feel my heart slowly stopping, and the pain increasing with every second.

Before I closed my eyes, I did see one face that was close to me, almost clear. Pale skin, black hair, and wearing all black. The one thing I noticed the most were blue eyes, filled with so much life.

Everything went black.

…..

…..

…. _ Beep….beep...beep… _

“My god...he’s still alive! He’s still alive! It’s a miracle!”

“Nurse, check his vitals and make sure everything is okay, and you, go tell Mr. and Mrs. Tweak the good news.”

“It truly is a miracle...a miracle…”

* * *

I never liked hospitals or any place that involved nurses, IV drips, needles, medication, and smelled like death. Anything that is remotely like a hospital, I don’t like it, it always reminds me of my horrible childhood, going in and out of the hospital, puking my brains out, and the pain in my body.

It’s been eight years since my body started to recover, and though doctors have said that I was supposed to die by the time I turned ten, I managed to surpass my sickness and the doctors officially said I was cured. A miracle they said, saying that I managed to come back to life and was all healed up was a miracle.

To be honest, I’m not one to really believe in miracles, but at that time, knowing I was going to live, knowing I’ll finally go to school, I’ll finally be outside, and finally be a normal kid, well...I started to believe that maybe someone up there was looking out for me, and I wish I could thank them in person.

Now, I’m eighteen, going to be going to college soon, and currently, I was looking for a decent job. But to get a job, you need experience, and that’s how I found myself at Looming Sunset Assisted Living, a retirement home in town. It was the only place that was looking for volunteer work for the summer, and I thought this place would help me get over my disliking of hospitals. Since I won’t be starting classes till fall, and I do want to get ahead in gaining some experience before I need to find a job, I thought volunteering at a place like this would be easy.

So after listening to the rules, what my hours were, and what I can and cannot do when around the elders and certain parts of the building, I was officially a volunteer, and my job mainly consisted of delivering items to the seniors or to the nurses, making sure the seniors are comfortable, do any chores that the nurses had for me, and basically, be there to chat with the seniors, make them feel comfortable and right at home.

Honestly, I liked talking to the seniors here, they had interesting stories to tell. I love seeing the smiles on their faces as they spoke about their youth and their families. I love talking to the sweet old ladies, they always gave me some of their candy they had in their pocket, though I don’t really eat them since they were either old, way too hard, or dirt and cloth stuck to them. Besides, I’m not allowed to eat on the job anyways. The grouchy and cranky seniors were a bit hard to be around since they would always threaten to hit me with their canes or run me over with their wheelchairs, but deep down, I can tell they enjoy talking about their time as a kid. Then there were the poor lost souls, people that don’t really know where they are anymore because of old age in their brains. I always feel bad for them because of how sad they become when they don’t remember anything that just happened, aren’t able to take care of themselves anymore, and pretty much just stay in their rooms, getting lost in their thoughts. I sometimes wonder what they think in there, and if they are happy or lonely.

So far, things were normal. Though I know my volunteer job was only temporary, I actually like it, and I hope things never changed. It’s kinda fun being able to hang out with all these people and getting to know them, and it always brightens my day when I see smiles on all the senior’s faces.

“Alright everyone, listen up. We’re gonna have a group bring in some animals for the senior citizens, so for you volunteers, your job is to simply make sure all the animals are kept in the same area and you do as the organizers say. There will be some small animals, so make sure they don’t escape while the seniors are petting the animals, got it?”

All the volunteers including myself nodded our heads, understanding the task before us.

“Good. Now all the nurses, you know what you need to do, if any of the seniors are allergic to any specific animals or are allergic to fur, be sure to keep those animals away from them, and possibly move the seniors somewhere near the windows so they’ll be able to breathe. Volunteers, help the animal group bring in the animals, and be very careful with where you set down the cages.”

We all got to work, and it was my task to carry in the guinea pig cages. I’ve never seen a guinea pig that much, kinda always thought they looked strange, but looking at them in the cage I was carrying, I will admit that they were cute...even if some of their hair seemed kinda funny.

As I set the cage down on the ground, right against a wall, I could see a few seniors admiring them already, and asking if they could see them closer or hold them. I smiled, and after a nurse gave me the thumbs up, I carefully reached out and grabbed a couple of guinea pigs from their cage and handed them to the seniors.

“You know...I used to have a grandson who loved these little things. Never really understood why, but I can see how adorable they are,” an old woman said.

“What happened to him?” I asked when I realized she said “used to.”

The grandmother’s smile dropped a bit, and it looked like she was about to cry, but she put a smile and gently pet the little guinea pig on her lap. “He was sick…” The old woman said, “barely ten...and already...the reaper took him away before I could even tell him goodbye.”

“...I’m sorry, ma’am,” I said.

“It’s alright...it’s been a long time...I try not to think about it too much...but hopefully he’s in a better place,” the old woman said.

I looked at her before giving her a sympathetic smile, I patted her hand to help reassure her that wherever her grandson was, I’m sure he’s in a better place.

Suddenly, I heard one of the volunteers screaming, “get it! Catch it! Where is it!?”

I turned around and saw one of the younger volunteers, a sixteen year old to be exact, looking at the ground, looking quite frantic. A nurse soon came over, try to calm the girl down since her screaming might alert the animals and scare some of the seniors.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” The nurse asked.

“One of the guinea pigs got loose! It was an accident, I swear!” Looking at her hands and volunteer jacket, I can see some little brown stains. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the guinea pig had an accident while the girl was carrying it.

Feeling bad for the young girl, I got up and volunteered to go look for it, while everyone else continued with their work. The nurse thanked me, and I quickly started looking around. From what the girl told me, it was a brown and white guinea pig, short hair, a pink nose, and had patches all over its body.

I left the area where most of the pets are since I couldn’t find it there, so I believe it left the room during the commotion, and I searched around the empty hallways where all the senior’s rooms were.

“Here guinea guinea guinea, come out,” I said, making kissing sounds and looking around very carefully. I don’t know much about guinea pigs, so I just hope they aren’t the type of animals that can climb walls.

As I was searching, I stopped when I hear someone humming. Curious, I followed the sound until I was about to go around the corner of the room, I stopped when I see someone, they were wearing all black, a black hoodie, black jeans, and black boots. Most of their face was covered up because they had their hoodie on. The humming was coming from them, and in their hands, I noticed a guinea pig sitting on their lap.

It was the missing guinea pig.

“Excuse me,” I called out, “I need to bring that one back to the group, please.”

“.....” They didn’t say anything, they just stopped humming, lifted their head up a bit, but then went back to petting the guinea pig.

I noticed that the person seemed young, maybe around my age or younger, and considering it was still technically visiting hours, all the visitors were also allowed to play with the animals along with the seniors.

“You don’t have to play with the guinea pig here by yourself. We actually have many others in the lounge, if you come with me and give me the guinea pig, you can play with more over there,” I said.

“......” The person was still silent, but I noticed their hands stopped petting the guinea pig.

“Sir? Can you hear me?” I asked. I was starting to feel uncomfortable at this point, and was it me or was this part of the hallway much colder than normal? “Sir, are you visiting your grandparents here or…?”

“You can see me?” The guy said. I noticed that he was saying that in a whisper, but what was odd was that it sounded like he was saying it multiple times at the same time. Almost echoing in a way.

“Um…” I thought I was hearing things, and covered my right ear a bit, “yeah...I can see you? Are you okay?” I wondered if this guy wasn’t actually a relative and actually wandered in here by mistake, and judging from how he was hunched over like that, I wondered if he mentally well. “Sir? Who are you here to visit?” I asked.

“.....” The figure lifted his head to look at me, and my heart began racing as I just saw his eyes that seemed to glow, but the one thing I noticed was how dead they look. “Everyone….I’m waiting for everyone…” He whispered again. This time, the echoing was more noticeable.

“W-what?” I trembled as I stepped back, but before I could do anything, I hear a nurse calling for me. I turned my head to see the nurse walking towards me, looking concerned.

“Did you find it?” The nurse asked.

“I-I did...but-” I turned around, and realized the guy was gone, but what was even strange was that the guinea pig was dead, even though it was alive just...a few...minutes ago...when that guy was right there….

“Oh my god,” the nurse covered her mouth in horror, “poor thing...the animal group did tell me that one of their guinea pigs haven’t been feeling well,” the nurse said.

“It...it wasn’t feeling well?” But it was just moving around earlier, and it looked fine when it was being held by that...guy.

“Crap, we’re gonna have to tell them about this. Stay here, make sure no one touches it, and I’ll be back,” the nurse said, “god...it looked like it’s been dead for an hour now…”

“Hour?” I looked at my watch, the guinea pig went missing an hour ago.

Once the nurse left, I stared at the guinea pig, seeing how it really did look like it’s been dead for awhile now, but it didn’t make sense, it was fine when that guy was holding it. Speaking of which...where did that guy go? Who was he?

_ “You can see me?” _

“.....” I didn’t know what that question meant, but my heart was pounding as I thought about it.

* * *

That night when I got home, I couldn’t get that strange guy out of my head, or what happened. When a vet came by to check on the dead guinea pig, they did confirmed that the guinea pig had died an hour prior to it escaping, which was odd since it looked alive when it was in the guy’s hand.

A part of me wondered if the guy killed it. I asked the receptionist if they saw someone wearing all black coming in and out of the building, she told me that she saw no one in that description, even commenting how someone wearing all black in the summer was pretty stupid. I just ignored the comment and went on with my day.

I wanted to tell a nurse about the guy, but if the receptionist didn’t see anyone, then how did that guy come in? There was no other way to get in the building, aside from the fire escape, but those doors were meant to be opened from the inside, not out, and they would have sounded a loud alarm if they were ever opened, even if he used tools to pry it open.

The whole thing was chilling and quite strange, I wasn’t able to focus on my work for awhile, so I had to ask the head nurse if I could leave early, saying I wasn’t feeling well.

When I got home, all I could think about was that guy. Was it my imagination? He looked real though. How come no one else saw him? How did he disappear so quickly? Did he run? No...that doesn’t sound right, especially since I should have heard him running. What about the guinea pig? How was it dead an hour before I found it? It was alive, I know it was. I could hear it squeaking in the guy’s hand, even squirming around a bit, so unless the guy was the one making those noises and moving the guinea pig, it all doesn’t make sense.

I couldn’t sleep at all, every time I closed my eyes, I saw that guy, even though his black hoodie suddenly changed into a long cloak, his hands looked more boney and long, and his figure was very thin and tall, I knew it was him, those glowing blue eyes that looked dead proved it was him.

I wake up in sweat, trembling in fear. For a second there, I thought I saw the actual grim reaper standing before me, but as I looked around in my room, I was completely alone.

When I got back to the nursing home and continued my work as a volunteer, I tried my best to not think about it. I was probably tired or just seeing things, so I tried not to think about it too much.

So right now, I headed to an old woman named Mabel, it was my job to help move her furniture since the nurse that was assigned to her for that day didn’t have time to move the furniture around, and was busy getting medicine for the other seniors. In my opinion, I think the nurse just didn’t want to do hard labor, so she just assigned me, a volunteer, to do the hard work for her.

“A little to the left, dear,” Mabel said.

“Nnn...l-like this?” I asked.

“Mmm...more to the right,” Mabel said, “keep going...going...stop!”

I sighed, “is this fine now?” I asked.

“Mmm….a little more to the left,” Mabel said.

“Mrs. Mabel, I’ve been moving this drawer for half an hour now. Why exactly do you want the furniture to be moved?” I asked

“Oh it’s my daughter’s idea. She said that my soul and spirit will be cleansed with this...this um...fung...shoe...thing…”

“I think she meant feng shui, Mrs. Mabel,” I smiled.

“Yes yes, that thing, and I’m not gonna live much longer anyways, so might as well clean this soul of mine,” Mabel chuckled.

I chuckled, “oh come on, you still have some life in you, don’t be saying stuff like that. You know everyone will miss you a whole lot,” I said. 

“What a sweet boy you are,” Mabel smiled, “but no need to butter me up, I know with my age, I’ll be leaving this world very soon,” Mabel sighed, “in fact...I think I’ll be leaving quite soon.”

Confused, I turned to her, tilting my head a bit, “what do you-” Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I turned around towards the door, but that’s when I noticed the peephole. “When did you install a peephole, Mabel?” I asked. I don’t remember seeing it when I came in earlier, how did I miss that? “I’ll uh...get it,” I said as I walked over and opened the door, ignoring the peephole.

The moment I opened the door, I see a tall, hooded figure wearing all black, their blue eyes staring at me. It was him.

“Took you long enough,” Mabel said.

The figure nodded towards Mabel before turning his attention to me, he tilted his head, looking confused, but doesn’t say anything to me.

“Well what are you doing, Tweek? Let him in,” Mabel said.

Getting out of my daze, I turned to look at Mabel, “you know him?” I asked.

“Well of course, everyone knows him,” Mabel smiled, “but boy, do you have lousy timing. I was almost finished with redecorating my room you know. Still not finished with that feng shui thing.”

The man walked past me, and now stood near Mabel, facing her. He suddenly cleared his throat, and instead of whispering, like last time, he spoke in a normal voice.

“My apologies, Mabel, but you and everyone knows that time is something that is irrelevant to me,” the man said.

I was surprised that there was no echoing sound in his voice, and that he was speaking more clearly and normal. Did I misheard him the last time I saw him? This was all confusing and weird.

“I-I’m sorry, but...how do you know him, Mrs. Mabel?” I asked.

“Well I’ve seen this fella lots of time, pretty quiet, and always working hard, but a sweet guy he is, aren’t you, dear?” Mabel smiled as she placed her hand on the man’s shoulder.

“....” The man doesn’t say anything, he lowered his head as he pulled at his hoodie, covering his face a bit more.

“You’ll have to forgive him, Tweek dear, he’s a shy one he is,” Mabel said.

“I….I see…” I felt a bit relieved knowing that this guy wasn’t some weirdo or anything like that, and I was also glad that someone besides myself was able to see him, so maybe I wasn’t starting to lose it.

“Mabel...it’s time…” The man suddenly spoke.

“Oh alright, no need to rush me,” Mabel said, she then turned towards me, “Tweek dear, mind leaving us for awhile?”

“Oh uh..sure,” I said. I was a bit confused as what the man meant or why they wanted me to leave, but it wasn’t my business. “I’ll be at the front then, if you need me, just call the nurse station,” I said.

“Yes yes. Goodbye, dear,” Mabel smiled. I don’t know what it was, but for some reason, Mabel’s smile was different, more...bright, and at the same time, kinda sad.

“Goodbye...Mrs. Mabel,” I said. I turned and left the room. When I looked back, I saw Mabel waving at me, same with the man, confused, I just waved back at them before leaving and headed straight for the nursing station.

That was weird.

I headed back to the nursing station and relaxed a bit, my arms were starting to ache from having to move so much furniture. The head nurse came by and saw me, she asked me how Mabel was doing and if everything was okay with her.

“Yeah, she’s doing fine. She did act a bit strange when I left though, especially when her friend came by to visit,” I said.

“Friend? What friend?” The head nurse asked.

“The guy that’s visiting her, he was wearing a black hoodie, and it seems that Mabel knows him,” I said.

“But visiting hours are over, and no one came inside the building today,” the head nurse said.

“W-what?” I felt my heart drop.

Suddenly, we hear someone screaming and quickly turned our heads. A nurse suddenly rushed over, tears in her eyes as she began panicking.

“What’s wrong?” The head nurse asked.

“M-Mrs. Mabel...she’s...she’s dead!”

At that moment, it’s like time stopped completely, and I felt like I was going insane.

* * *

After checking the security cameras and determining when and how Mabel died, I was off the hook since some of the nurses suspected that I might have murdered Mabel since I was the last person to be with her when she was still alive.

I tried telling the nurses and police about the weird guy wearing the black hood, but after reviewing the security footage for the front door and the hallway, they told me that there was no one fitting my description.

“I told you, no one came inside the building, especially a black hooded figure,” the head nurse said.

“No...I swore there was a hooded figure in the room with me and Mrs. Mabel! We both saw him! M-maybe there’s a clue to where he is, maybe he has something to do with her death!”

“Mr. Tweak, I can see you care very deeply about Mabel, but it’s been determined that Mrs. Mabel died from a stroke. It was known that Mrs. Mabel did have high blood pressure,” the head nurse said.

“No! I’m telling you, there was a hooded guy in Mrs. Mabel’s room, and there was a hooded guy when that guinea pig died! I’m telling you, he has something to do with it! I can prove it!” I exclaimed as I rushed over to Mabel’s room, however, when I reached the door, I noticed the peephole was gone, “w-where’s the peephole?”

“What peephole?”

“The peephole that was installed on Mrs. Mabel’s door!”

“There was no peephole installed on her door,” the head nurse said, “Mr. Tweak, are you feeling alright? Maybe you should go home for the day, it’s been a stressful day after all,” the head nurse said.

“No no no! I’m telling you, I saw a hooded guy and…” From the corner of my eyes, I see the hooded figure standing at the end of the hallway, my heart was pounding, “there he is!” I exclaimed as I pointed to him.

“Who?” Everyone looked at where I was pointing, but had confused looks on their faces.

“The hooded guy! The guy who was with Mrs. Mabel!” I exclaimed, pointing to the hooded figure.

“Mr. Tweak, I don’t see anyone,” the head nurse said.

“How can you not see him!? He’s right there! Right there!” I exclaimed as gestured to the guy. The guy looked at me before he turned around and started walking away, “gah! He’s leaving! Catch him! Catch him!” I exclaimed.

“Mr. Tweak!” The head nurse grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me to face her, “obviously, you’re very stressed. There isn’t a hooded figure, Mrs. Mabel died from a stroke, and you’re just seeing things. Why don’t you go home and get some rest.”

“But...but...the guy-”

“There is no one. Did anyone see anyone there?” The head nurse asked. Everyone shook their heads, they all looked at me as if I was crazy. “See? Now go home, and get some rest. Hopefully, you’ll be better by tomorrow, but if you see this ‘hooded figure’ again, then maybe you need a week off from your volunteer work,” the head nurse then started taking me away, leading me towards the front door.

“But...I saw him...I really did! Why don’t you believe me?” I asked.

“I do want to believe you, Mr. Tweak, but right now, we have to deal with Mrs. Mabel, her family, and making arrangements, so we can’t have you running around exclaiming that a hooded man was in the room with Mrs. Mabel and was possibly the cause of her death. Think of how her family would react if you started spouting nonsense to them. Now I’m going to say this one last time, go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow,” the head nurse said. She took me outside, turned around, and went back inside. I stood there, watching her head back inside until she was gone and I was alone.

I began pulling at my hair, letting out a frustrated groan. They didn’t see him! They didn’t see him! Am I going crazy? No...if I was going crazy, then how the fuck did Mabel see him!? What happened to that peephole!? Why couldn’t any of them see him!?

“Gah!” I let out a scream as I pulled my hair, hard. I can feel a couple of strands coming out, but I didn’t care. This was so confusing and frustrating.

After calming myself down, I let out a tired sigh. I figured that maybe I was seeing things, that maybe I was stressed. I should just go home and rest, and if things don’t go back to normal, then I should probably get myself checked.

I started walking, planning on going home, but before I could even take ten steps, I see him. I see that damn hooded man, standing by the trees and bushes in the front of the building. I blinked once, then twice, but he was still there, standing there, his presence mocked me.

The man was looking at me, I know he was, I can feel those dead, blue eyes on me.

Though I wasn’t sure if he was real or not, I knew that I had to talk to him and clear things up, otherwise, I might go insane from all of this. So without a second thought, I rushed over to where that guy stood.

Once I reached him, I stared at him, he stared at me. The air was tense between us, and yet, I felt a chill run down my spine the moment I stood next to him, but I ignored it, I ignored the weird feeling I got when I was near him. I just needed to know one thing.

“Did you kill Mrs. Mabel?” I asked. I can feel tears pricking in my eyes as I thought of that sweet old lady. God knows how her family are going to react when they get the call about their grandmother. The sad looks on their faces, I just couldn’t bring myself to imagine it. I just needed to know if he had anything to do with it.

“....She was already dead, I just waited for her to leave her body,” the man said.

“W-what does that even mean!?” I shouted, tears now falling, “what kind of bullshit response is that!? I just want to know! Did you have anything to do with her death or what!?” I shouted.

“....Well...if I wasn’t around, she would still be in her body, but would be in a lot of pain. There would be chaos if I didn’t show up,” the man said.

“Stop it with the riddles, man! What the fuck are you!? Why couldn’t those people see you earlier, and yet I and Mrs. Mabel could see you!?”

“...Those about to die are able to see me...but I’m not sure why you can…”

I glared at him, feeling my hands trembling. Before I knew it, I grabbed his hoodie in anger, I was tired of not being able to see his face while we’re talking here.

“You son of a bitch! What does that even mean!” I exclaimed. I pulled down his hoodie, and everything went silent.

His face...his face was so pale and skinny, he almost looked like a skeleton. Actually….he’s starting to turn into one. The moment I saw his human face, it soon stripped away and was replaced with that of a skeleton. Flesh suddenly disappearing, all the features on his face were now gone, even his dead eyes were no longer in the eye sockets.

Standing before me was not human, but a skeleton creature wearing black. Even the clothes he wore suddenly changed into a single black hooded cloak.

I was face to face with the grim reaper.

“Don’t...look...at me….” The reaper whispered. His voice sounded strained as he clutched the hood of his cloak. He was mad.

I began sweating as I took a few steps back, only to trip on a rock and fall back, the reaper stood in front of me, staring at me. Though I couldn’t see his eyes anymore, I can feel that he was staring at me.

I angered a reaper, I was going to die.

The moment the reaper took a step closer, I let out a scream.

* * *

I’ve never liked grim reaper. I never liked the idea of a skeleton wearing a black cloak would come to you when you die, taking your soul away. Also...who would ever make death look like that in the first place?

When I was young and very sick, the doctors would tell me that I won’t live for long, that I’ll die when I’m around ten. I was so scared of dying, so scared of seeing the grim reaper, so scared of everything after death.

Mom and dad would tell me all about Heaven and Hell, but even I can’t feel at peace with that, even if I do try to be good all the time. I did look for other answers in other religions, but because of my weak body, I could only get a few answers to my many questions.

As my time was approaching death, I was so terrified. Terrified of who’ll I’ll meet once I’m dead, what will happen to my body, where I’ll end up going. What is my afterlife? Is there even an afterlife? It’s all confusing to me, especially when I was so young.

I was relieved when I feel my body getting better, and the doctors told me my recovery was nothing more than a miracle, but a part of me wondered if it really was just a miracle, and who was that I saw before my vision faded? All I remember was blue eyes that were filled with life.

Still, I feared death and the grim reaper, even after I have recovered and have lived my life fully. The thought of being in front of the grim reaper terrifies me to this day.

So it was kinda confusing as to why I find myself sitting in front of the grim reaper at my house, having tea and cookies.

“Um….want anything?”

“.....” The reaper shook his head. He lowered his head a bit, pulling at his hoodie to cover his face some more. I guess he was very self-conscious about his appearance.

I sighed and poured myself a cup of tea. I prefer coffee over tea, but at this moment, I really needed something to calm my nerves instead of making them go haywire.

I sat down at the kitchen table, the reaper sitting across from me, and I took a few sips of my tea, took a cookie from the plate, and just ate the cookie in silence.

We didn’t say anything for ten minutes.

I never really thought I’d be sitting with the grim reaper...or...a reaper...that bit was confusing when he explained it to me earlier. After I found out who he was, I began to panic, fearing for my life, even begging the reaper to let me live, to not take my soul. However, the reaper simply pulled back his hood, and took a few inches away from me.

“I’m not here for you,” the reaper said.

I stopped panicking and looked at him, “t-then why are you here?”

“I live here…” the reaper responded.

“In a nursing home!?” I exclaimed.

The reaper didn’t say anything, he nodded his head and gripped his hood a bit more. It looked like he was embarrassed from having his face shown.

“....” I suddenly didn’t feel scared, not when the reaper looked all shy and embarrassed at this moment. I was now confused and had so many questions, questions that needed to be answered right now. “Okay, so you’re not here for me...got it...but...why do you live in a nursing home?”

“...I was assigned here,” the reaper said.

“A-assigned?” I asked. The reaper nodded. “Who...assigned you to be here?” I asked.

The reaper shrugged, “I don’t know, never seen them...possibly another reaper. I just know that they assigned reapers to certain places in the world, keeping all eyes on humans that are about to reach their end.”

“Wait...t-there’s more than one grim reaper!?” I exclaimed.

The reaper nodded, “there has to be...especially with how many people die every day,” the reaper said.

That only made me have even more questions. I needed to know. “So if there’s more than one reaper, how come I never seen them? How come you’re the only one I can see!? How come no one else can see you or other reapers!? What’s going on here!?” I shouted.

The reaper suddenly took a step forward and placed his hand on me, or more like, he placed his sleeve on me since the sleeve of his cloak kinda covered his hands entirely.

“Don’t shout….unless you want people to think you’re crazy,” the reaper said. I nodded, knowing that if I am the only one that can see him, to someone else that might walk by, it might look like I’m shouting in thin air. “Look, we can talk tomorrow if you like.”

I shook my head and pushed his arm away, “no way. I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t know anything that’s happening here! I need to know, now!” I said.

“....” The reaper sighed, “....you don’t live too far from here, correct?”

“Huh? I mean...no….I guess...why?”

“You want to know everything, right?” I nodded, “then...I’ll come home with you..and we can talk all you want, with limits of course,” the reaper said.

“....O-okay…” I said.

That’s how I soon found myself drinking tea and eating ginger snap cookies with the grim reaper sitting in front of me.

….I don’t even like ginger snap that much.

“Well?”

“Well...what?” I asked.

“Your questions, I know you want to ask me things, so go ahead and ask me what you want to know,” the reaper said.

“....” I thought about it, and though I’m not sure if there is a time limit here, I knew I should get the most important ones out of the way. “....Did you...have anything to do with Mrs. Mabel and that guinea pig’s death?” I asked.

The reaper sighed, “technically...yes….and no. They can’t officially die without me being around, but they were dead way before I showed up at the door,” the reaper said.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means...they’ll die from earthly things such as old age, accidents, murder, or whatever. Physical things that can actually harm a human and killing them. However...reapers like myself need to show up to officially have them killed by taking their souls and taking them to the afterlife.”

“B-but...Mrs. Mabel and the guinea pig looked fine,” I said.

“Sometimes...when those who are about to die may look fine to you, but other times...it’s more obvious that they aren’t gonna live that long. Death can be sudden at times. For Mrs. Mabel and the guinea pig, they both were suffering from certain ailments that would eventually take their lives, and yet...before I gave them the signs that they are about to die, they’ll act as if they were fine,” the reaper said.

“Wait...signs? What signs?”

“Before someone dies, they will get a sign sent to them that tells them they’ll be dying soon. They won’t know the exact date as to not try and prevent it from happening, even though it’s pointless, but deep down, they’ll know their time is coming. Why do you think Mrs. Mabel had you moving her furniture all of a sudden, or how she started speaking as if she was going to leave soon?”

“.....” I looked down, realizing that Mabel did act strange for awhile, but she acted even more strange on the day she died.

“It’s the same with the guinea pig. It left its brothers and sisters, and went somewhere to die in peace. Of course...I may have been kind enough to let it live a little longer by not taking its soul an hour ago, but it didn’t matter, the guinea pig died at that time, and I just took its soul to make it official,” the reaper said.

“So that’s why the guinea pig was still moving in your hands,” I said.

“I couldn’t help myself...it looked...cute,” the reaper said, lowering his head.

I was surprised by that answer of his, but try not to take much notice of it, “okay...so I got that answer...now answer me this...why can I see you and yet...can’t see other grim reapers?”

“....That...I’m not sure,” the reaper said.

“What do you mean you’re not sure!?” I shouted.

“It means...I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was strange enough that you can see me in the first place, but it’s even stranger that you can’t see others like me. Nothing like this has ever happened, so there’s no definite answer that I can give you here,” the reaper said, “I’m sorry.”

“Ugh! Great! That’s just...great!” I sighed as I leaned back in my chair, “not only can I see the grim reaper, but I can only see one, and there is no explanation as to why that’s happening,” I said, “I really am going crazy…”

“You’re not crazy, Mr. Tweak. Mrs. Mabel was able to see me too, remember?”

“Right. ...Right! Why was she able to see you as well?” I asked.

“She was nearing death, and those near death can see the grim reaper. So to her...she was able to see someone like me. However...your case seem special,” the reaper said, “I can tell that you were close to death at a young age, and yet...you can still see me...however...it seems you can only see me. Usually, those who were close to death are able to see reapers for awhile, and for some, forever, however...there’s never been a case where someone who was close to dying was only able to see one reaper...let alone...touch one,” the reaper said.

“What do you mean?”

“Even if you can hear me and see me...you shouldn’t have been able to touch me...nor should I be able to touch you,” the reaper said.

“But...weren’t you able to touch the guinea pig...and possibly Mrs. Mabel when you took their souls?” I asked.

“That’s the thing, I am able to touch them when they are nearing death, but you...you’re still alive...and no where near dying. Reapers are not able to interact with the living...so how is it that you’re able to touch me?” The reaper asked.

“....Oh god...this is starting to freak me out,” I said as I took a few more sips of my tea. “This is so confusing and stressful, and I’m about to head to college in two months! How am I supposed to deal with that when I can barely deal with this!?”

The reaper sighed, “Mr. Tweak...I mean you no harm. I have no business with the living, and though I don’t understand why you can see me or even interact with me, just no that I won’t get in your way, as long as you don’t get in mine,” the reaper said.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a reason why people die, Mr. Tweak, and death is quite important in keeping the balance of the universe and the world. If no one dies, everything would go to chaos. Earthquakes, lightning, hurricanes, volcanoes, and far worse things beyond that. If no one dies, then they’ll wish they could die...especially with how much suffering everyone will have to go through,” the reaper said.

“....A-all because of one person!?” I exclaimed.

“Yes,” the reaper sighed, “I know you humans wish for no death, wish that you can all stay alive forever, but that’s not how the natural order goes. If no one dies...the world will suffer. Just like how there must be life...there must be death.

“....Jesus...this is really hard to take in,” I sighed.

“It is...and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell you any of this, but...considering the circumstances...I feel like you at least deserve to know why people need to die,” the reaper said.

“I….I get it. Okay? I get it,” I sighed. “I’ll...not get in your way...and you just...don’t get in mine. Simple! I’ll just...ignore that you exist...and I’ll go back to living a normal life and pretend that there is no fucking reaper walking around the nursing home I’m stuck volunteering at because there’s no other options for me!” I exclaimed.

“.....Are you going to be okay?” The reaper asked.

I took a deep breath, “yeah...yeah...totally. I’ll definitely be fine...just...just need to let this sink in.” I leaned back in my chair, taking my now cold tea, and taking a sip, some of it spilling and getting on my shirt, but I didn’t really care at that moment.

“....Well...I could tell you that you’ll be living a long and fulfilling life, if that will make you feel better,” the reaper said. I noticed him taking a cookie from the plate and taking a bite from it. “...Good cookies,” the reaper said.

“My mom made them,” I said.

We sat in silence for awhile. I did have more questions, but I didn’t feel like asking them at that moment, not after hearing everything about death and how the world could go into chaos if someone doesn’t die. Ugh...why did I have to get involved in shit like this?

“....Do you have a name?” I asked.

“Why? It’s not like we’ll be getting in each other’s way after this,” the reaper said.

“I know, but...in the end, I can’t really ignore you or your existence. Besides...just calling you reaper or the grim reaper is gonna be tiring to say, and who knows if I’ll eventually see other reapers like you. So...do you have a name or what?” I asked.

“.....Craig. Call me Craig.”

* * *

After that talk with the reaper...er...Craig, everything went back to normal...sorta. I would go back to work on most days, especially since no one is going to be dying any time soon, however, I can’t help but notice Craig walking around every now and then, looking a certain seniors or people that come by, then disappearing.

It was really hard to ignore someone when they are constantly walking around, staring at people straight up, and then disappearing into thin air. IT also doesn’t help the fact that he’s wearing all black, making him stand out more since everyone around would be wearing brighter colors, due to it being summer and everything.

I also noticed that Craig seemed to be back to wearing a hoodie, jeans, and boots instead of that hooded cloak from that night. It makes me wonder if his clothes also changed just like when he changed from looking like a thin and pale human to an actual walking skeleton.

Now that I think about it, Craig didn’t seem to be carrying a large scythe that most people depict the grim reaper to be carrying. Does this mean that grim reapers don’t actually carry scythes? I still have so many questions to ask him, but I knew it would be for the best to not get in each other’s ways. I need to ignore him, then once summer is over and I’m off for college, I won’t have to deal with someone like him again.

“Oh dear...where could it be?” I looked up and noticed the old woman who lost her grandson a long time ago was looking at the ground frantically.

Confused, I rushed over to see what was wrong, “what’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’ve lost a hat,” the woman said.

“A hat?”

“Yes...it was...oh..what were they called again...it’s a special type of hat. One that’s meant for a small child, it was blue, had a yellow poof ball on top of it, had flaps on the side,” the old woman said, “it used to belong to my grandson before he died, his parents gave it to me as a momento, but now I’ve misplaced it. I hope no one has thrown it away…” The old woman looked like she was going to be in tears over the hat.

“Don’t worry ma’am, I’ll find it. I’ll have the nurses and staff look around for it,” I smiled.

“Thank you, dear. I don’t know what I would do if I lost the one thing that reminds me of him…” the old woman said.

“Don’t worry ma’am, we’ll be sure to keep a look out for it,” I said.

I soon left her and informed the head nurse, she then proceeded to tell the staff and the other volunteers to keep a lookout for the hat. Once everyone started looking for it, I began searching around, hoping to find the hat as soon as possible, the old woman looked really distressed over it.

As I was walking down the hallway, I stopped when I see Craig at the end of the hallway, I noticed that he was holding something in his hand, it looked to be a blue hat with flaps on the side and a yellow poof ball.

My eyes widened, “you found it! You found the hat!” I exclaimed happily as I rushed over to him.

Craig looked at me as soon as I raised my voice, “I saw it by the fish tank,” Craig said. So that must be where the old woman dropped it.

“Well thank goodness you found it, we were looking everywhere for it,” I smiled as I reached out to take it from him.

Suddenly, Craig held the hat close to his chest, as if protecting it. I froze as I stared at him in confusion, he looked at me, but made no attempt in giving me the hat.

“Hey...that hat isn’t yours…” I said.

“I….I know...I just...I like it…” That was Craig’s response.

I frowned, “I don’t care if you like it, it doesn’t belong to you, now give it,” I said.

Craig shook his head, “I don’t wanna…”

“Don’t be so stubborn, just give me the hat, it doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to that old woman, now give it!” I exclaimed as I reached out and grabbed the hat from him.

The moment I snatched the hat rom him, he looked at me in anger. His eyes were no longer dead looking, but filled with so much anger and life, it surprised me.

“It’s mine!” Craig shouted, his voice booming and echoing in my ears.

I had to cover my ears to prevent them from ringing, “it’s not yours! What are you talking about!?” I exclaimed.

“.....” Craig eyes changed to that of realization before he finally calmed down from his tantrum and was back to normal, I assumed. “I….I’m sorry...I stepped out of line…” Craig whispered as he backed away.

“.....?” Confused, I looked at him, “are you okay?” I asked.

“....I….I need to be alone,” Craig said before he turned around, and walked into the wall, disappearing right before my eyes.

“.....” What the hell just happened?

I headed back to the old woman with the hat, giving it back to her. She thanked me for finding it, clinging it to her chest, and gently crying that the hat was now back in her hands.

“It’s alright, ma’am. I’m glad you got your hat back,” I smiled.

“I know I shouldn’t cry over a hat, especially when it’s already been eight years, but...I remember how much he loved this hat, refusing to take it off, even when he’s sleeping. His hair would always be a mess when he does eventually take if off when he had to take a bath...oh...that silly boy…” the old woman smiled as more tears fell from her eyes from the memories of her grandson.

I smiled as I gently rubbed her back to calm her down, watching her hug the hat, similar to when Craig was hugging the hat earlier….

I could feel a pair of eyes on me, so when I looked up to the corner of the room, I saw him. He was staring at the old woman, watching her hug the hat. He stared at the woman and the hat for a few more seconds before turning around and leaving.

“.....” I wondered why he wanted that hat so much.

Later that day, I was out at the store, buying some stuff my mom needed, as well as buying myself some groceries since I know that I needed to be more independent and need to start cooking for myself.

As I was getting the stuff my mom asked me to get for her and my own stuff, I started walking down the aisle with the accessories and tutorial books. As I was walking down, I stopped when I noticed a stack of hats meant for children. One of them looking similar to the blue hat that the old woman had, except this one was orange and there was a yellow zigzag by the flaps.

“.....” I couldn’t help but think back to how Craig looked upset when he had to give back the hat, even when he knew he was acting childish when he refused to give it back to me. I sighed, wondering what’s up with him.

I know I shouldn’t concern myself with him since we both said that we’d stay out of each other’s business, but at the same time, I couldn’t ignore him. I mean...would anyone ignore at the fact that they can see the actual grim reaper walking around you? I don’t think so.

“....” I suddenly remembered my mom having some yarn at home, remembering how she used to take on knitting before quitting because of work, and there was a book on knitting in front of me...and maybe making a hat wouldn’t be too hard….

I grabbed the book and put it in my basket before continuing the rest of my shopping. I don’t know what I was doing, but..this seems like the right thing to do...I hope.

Later that night, I stayed up reading the book, specifically on the section for hats. After asking my mom’s permission to use her knitting kit, I grabbed the needles, blue and yellow yarn, and got to work.

The next day when I headed back to the nursing home, I looked around for Craig during my break. When I found him sitting in the hallway, staring at one of the doors to someone’s room, I walked over to him.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“....Waiting,” Craig said.

“For what?”

“The usual. Death,” Craig said.

“Oh….so you mean…” I looked at the door he was staring at.

“Yep,” Craig said as he continued to sit on the floor, leaning against the wall, staring straight ahead at the door.

“Okay….well um...I made you something,” I said.

“What?” Craig looked up at me.

I blushed, never have done this before, and I was a bit unsure if he’ll like it or not, “I felt bad about what happened yesterday..and um...well...even though you couldn’t have that hat...I thought I um...make you one instead…” I pulled out the hat from my pocket and showed it to him. It was completely made of yarn, even the yellow tassels on top were made of yarn. “Now I didn’t know your head size, so I might have made it a bit big, but um...just...here,” I handed him the hat, blushing in embarrassment, “I know it doesn’t look good...but-”

“I love it,” Craig said as he held the hat, staring at it, “thank you.”

“.....” I smiled, “you’re welcome.”

Craig pulled down his hood, revealing his pale face, he put on the hat right away, and like I expected it, it was a bit too big on him, almost covering half of his face.

“I’ll….uh...I’ll fix that for you,” I said as I helped adjust the hat a bit so that his eyes wouldn’t be covered. The moment I leaned close enough to adjust his hat, I uncovered his eyes, only to realize how close were really were. I blushed when I stared into his blue eyes, seeing that they weren’t as dead as before. He looked...happy.

“Thank you for the kind gift, Mr. Tweak. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Craig said.

“....” I blushed a bit, but had a smile on my face, “please...call me Tweek.”

I sat down next to him for the rest of my break, talking to him, while also fixing his hat so it would fit on him a bit better. The more I talked with him, the more I realized that he wasn’t as bad as I initially thought, if anything, it was kinda pleasant just sitting here with the grim reaper.

* * *

In the end, I couldn’t really ignore Craig like I originally thought. After seeing how he wasn’t such a bad guy nor did he give off a terrifying feel anymore, I felt comfortable just talking to him, being near him, and the like. So every day, during my break, I would find Craig either sitting in the corner or in an empty hallway, and after making sure no one would notice me, I would just sit with him, and we would talk.

Most of our conversations just involved me asking a lot of questions about reapers and what happens to people when they die, and Craig will answer them, at least the ones he can answer. He told me that he isn’t allowed to tell me anything detailed since knowing too much about the afterlife and reapers could have some dire consequences.

“So….can you guys...like...fly?” I asked.

“No? Why would you think we could?” Craig asked.

“Well...I remember reading something about how reapers could fly, and I remember seeing a few movie renditions where reapers could fly,” I said.

“We can do a lot of things, but flying ain’t one of them,” Craig said as he played with the string flaps of his hat. Ever since I gave Craig the hat, he hasn’t been wearing his hood as much as before, so I get to see his face more often. Though he still had pale and sickly skin, I’ll admit, he was kinda attractive, especially with those blue eyes of his, regardless if they looked dead or not.

“Okay...so you can’t fly…” I said as I leaned back against the wall, “then...do you guys carry a scythe?”

“Why would we carry a scythe? What would be the point? If anything, it would kinda get in the way of our work,” Craig said.

“You have a point…” I said.

Craig sighed, letting the strings go, “do you have any questions that doesn’t involve things that aren’t true about reapers?”

“....Were you...always a reaper?” I asked, looking at him.

“.....” Craig turned his head, looking down, “I….I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“My memories before being a reaper are...hazy. I think I was human once,” Craig said.

“You were?” I asked.

“Yeah...I remember...a house...a family, a woman, a man, and a little girl. I remember them...smiling at me,” Craig said.

“Were they your family?” I asked.

“I’m...not sure...I think they were...maybe,” Craig said.

“What...happened to them?” I asked.

“....” Craig frowned, pulling at the strings of his hat a bit more. It looked like he didn’t like the question.

“I’m...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked something so personal,” I said.

“....” Craig sighed before looking at me, “it’s fine...my memories of my previous life is all a blur, and I’m not sure who I was or how I died. I just know my first name, what my task is as reaper, and...the pain that I felt isn’t there anymore.”

“Pain?” I asked.

“There was...a sharp pain in my body...I remember it faintly. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, and I could barely see. Sometimes...I can feel that pain every now and then when I try to think about my life before, but other than that...I feel fine,” Craig said.

“....” That reminded me of when I was still sick. Unable to breathe, move, or see much. I knew what it was like to be in pain for a long time, and sometimes, even I can still remember the pain whenever I think about the time I almost died. “I guess we have a lot in common…” I sighed.

“.....” Craig looked at me, it looked like he knew and understood. We both sat in silence for awhile. “....What’s your favorite animal?” Craig suddenly said.

“Huh?”

“You’ve been asking me a lot of questions, seems fair that I ask you something, right?”

“....” I looked at him for a bit before smiling, “well...I’m a bit of a bird guy. Used to have a parrot...but he ran away one day when I forgot to close the window,” I said.

“Sam was his name,” Craig said. “He lived a full life before he passed away a few years back.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Though there are multiple reapers, we all know every death, regardless of who reaped them,” Craig said.

“Huh. So you like have every name of every person that has died in that head of yours?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” Craig said.

I nodded, “....So...what’s your favorite animal?” I asked.

Craig looked at me before smiling a bit, “guinea pigs. I really like guinea pigs.”

We continued chatting about the small things in our lives, and I can tell that we’ve gotten closer than before.

After a couple of days has past, things were pretty much peaceful between Craig and I. We would see each other during my break, we talk, have a few laughs, and then I would head back to work, occasionally smiling and waving at Craig.

However, things started to change on one particular day.

“Mrs. Tucker, you seem quite happy today,” I heard the nurse say. I looked up and realized the nurse was talking to the old woman who lost her grandson.

“My son and my daughter-in-law called me yesterday, they said they were coming all the way from Denver to come see me,” the woman said.

“That’s so sweet, Mrs. Tucker. I’m so happy for you,” the nurse said.

“Your family lives all the way in Denver?” I asked, curious about their conversation.

“Yes,” Mrs. Tucker sighed, “ever since my grandson died, they couldn’t bare to live here anymore. They did once asked me to come with them to Denver, but with my old bones, I couldn’t really go anywhere, besides, I’ve lived in South Park for a long time, I could never move from this place, it’s my home,” Mrs. Tucker said.

“Well it’s nice that they’ve traveling very far to come and visit you, Mrs. Tucker,” I smiled.

“Yes, it’s very nice to see them, especially with how they lost Craig too early,” Mrs. Tucker sighed.

“....Craig?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s the name of my grandson. Did I not tell you?” Mrs. Tucker asked.

I felt my heart stop, “no...you didn’t,” I said.

“Oh well Craig was such a sweet boy, had a bit of an attitude problem at times, but he was a good boy nonetheless. Loved his guinea pigs, his hat, and watching that...um...that Japanese cartoon with the car racing thing...forgot its name...but little Craig loved it so much.

I suddenly remembered how during one of our conversations, Craig would tell me how he would sometimes watch the TV in the lounge whenever they played this show called Red Racer, he told me he wasn’t sure why he liked it, but he knew he loved it.

“Red...Racer?” I muttered.

“That was it!” Mrs. Tucker said.

“Mrs. Tucker, your family is here,” one of the nurses said.

I turned my head and saw three people behind the nurse. A woman, a man, and a little girl. The little girl rushed over to Mrs. Tucker, hugging her.

“Grandma! I missed you,” the little girl said.

“I missed you too, dear. How are you?” Mrs. Tucker said.

“Okay, it’s kinda boring in Denver though, wish you could be with us, grandma,” the little girl said.

“I know dear, I would love to be with you all too, but someone has to stay here and keep Craig company,” Mrs. Tucker said.

“Mom…” the man said, looking a bit sad at the mention of his son’s name.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know it hurts,” Mrs. Tucker sighed.

“Is big brother watching over us, grandma?” the little girl asked.

“I’m sure he is, he’s always watching over us,” Mrs. Tucker smiled.

“.....” From the corner of my eyes, I noticed a figure wearing all black, and was staring at the old woman and her family. When he looked at me, I can see a pained look in his eyes.

Craig...he was…..

* * *

Craig has been quiet for the past few days. He barely looked at me, just walked around or not appearing at all. Sometimes, I would find him sitting or standing by his grandmother, just staring at her. I would notice how Craig’s grandmother would mention about being watched to her friends, but would shrug it off when she didn’t see anyone, that only hurt Craig even more.

I tried talking to Craig, but he wouldn’t say anything to me, he just looked more and more sad as he stared at his grandmother, as if hoping she would notice him.

“Craig...you can’t just keep staring at her, hoping she’ll look at you you know,” I said, looking at him sadly. I managed to find Craig sitting in front of his grandmother’s door, waiting for her to come out.

“.....” Craig doesn’t listen, he continued to sit there, staring at the door with a pained look in his eyes.

“....I know it hurts, but...you need to move on. I know it’s a real shocker knowing that this entire time, you were the dead grandson of this woman, and you finally know who your grandmother is, but you can’t just sit here and-”

“It’s not that,” Craig said.

“What?” I said, I looked at him in confusion, “what are you talking about?”

Craig looked at me with the most saddest expression I have ever seen him make, “grandma...she’s gonna die next week.”

My heart shrank.

“What?”

“....She’s gonna die...I know she is,” Craig said, lowering his head.

“....Craig….” I muttered.

“Please….just...leave me alone,” Craig said. I watched him take off his hat before giving it to me. I watched as he disappeared without saying another word.

My heart ached for Craig, knowing that he’s in a lot of pain over this. I wanted to comfort him, I wanted to help him, but how does one comfort a reaper? Hell, I’m still surprised that Craig even has emotions. Still, he’s my friend, and as my friend, I wanted to be there for him.

That night, I tried to think of a way to help him. I knew that when his grandmother died, she’ll eventually see him, but I guess he didn’t want her to see him like that, her being dead, and him being the reaper to take her soul. I thought and thought, I rewrote plans, and tried to think outside the box. By the time it was close to one in the morning, I was tired, and thinking that I should just go to bed now and try again the next day.

As I was walking to my bed, exhausted, I stopped when I saw myself in the face. In the dark room, as well as being tired, I looked dead in my mirror. It reminded me of Craig...and….it reminded me how I’m the only one that can see him….

“....” I smiled as I thought of the one and only plan that I knew was going to work, I just need to make sure I play my cards right and things go smoothly.

The next day as I got to work, I decided to spend most of my time with Mrs. Tucker, talking to her and getting to know all about her while I did my job.

“What was your husband like?” I asked.

“He was a bit of a stubborn old man, but was still a caring father. It’s too bad he didn’t live long enough to meet his grandkids,” Mrs. Tucker sighed.

“That a shame, I’m sure your grandkids would have loved to meet your husband,” I said.

Mrs. Tucker smiled sadly, “I’m sure Craig would have loved him. Those two are quite similar when it comes to being stubborn,” Mrs. Tucker sighed, “but I guess they’ll meet up in Heaven, I supposed,” Mrs. Tucker said, “if my husband actually managed to get into Heaven of course,” Mrs. Tucker chuckled.

I smiled at her, but I soon felt a familiar presence in the room, and I knew he was around. Time to start my plan.

“Mrs. Tucker, do you miss your grandson very much?” I asked.

“Of course I do! What a silly question to ask. What kind of grandmother wouldn’t miss her own grandkids,” Mrs. Tucker sighed, “and though miss Craig very much, I just hope he’s doing okay.”

“.....Well um...Mrs. Tucker...do you...um...b-believe in ghosts?” I asked.

“Ghosts?” Mrs. Tucker looked at me, “why talk of ghosts all of a sudden, dear?”

“It’s just...um...recently, I’ve been really into psychic mediums and the supernatural lately, and um...I’ve been kinda practicing a bit on how to...talk to ghosts,” I blushed in embarrassment, “b-but of course, you probably don’t believe in this stuff, but um...if you want...I could try...talking to your grandson and interpret what he’s saying,” I said. From the corner of my eyes, I can see Craig has fully emerged from the wall, he stared at me, wondering what I was doing.

Mrs. Tucker chuckled, “oh you youngling will believe anything on the TV, huh?” 

I smiled, shrugging. “Wouldn’t hurt to try, right?”

“Well….oh alright. No harm in playing your little game. Let’s do it then. What is it that I need to do?”

“Nothing, just stay right there, keep your eyes on me, and I’ll try to communicate with the spirits,” I smiled.

“Tweek, what are you doing?” Craig said as he now took a step towards me.

I ignored him and started pretending that I was trying to communicate with the spirits, “oh...spirit world, lend me your ears...or er...time. I need to speak with the one called Craig Tucker, I must speak to him so his grandmother can say a few words to him,” I called out.

“Dear, is this really necessary?” Mrs. Tucker asked.

“Tweek, cut it out,” Craig said.

I ignored Craig, but smiled towards Mrs. Tucker, “I can hear him,” I said.

“Y-you can?” Mrs. Tucker asked.

“Tweek, please...stop…” Craig said.

I wanted to apologize to Craig, but I knew he needed this, they both do. “Mrs. Tucker, quick, tell Craig what you want to say, he’ll hear you,” I said.

“Oh! Well...um...I guess...sweetheart? Are you there? It’s me, your grandma. Can you hear me?” Mrs. Tucker asked. Craig turned towards her, his eyes widening.

“He hears you,” I said.

Mrs. Tucker’s eyes widened, and it looked like she was going to cry, “well Craig...if you’re listening...I just want you to know that I miss you, your mother, father, and sister misses you very much everyday. I know we’re all not living together anymore, but..after you died, it’s been hard on all of us, but just know...we still love you dear, and we’ll always remember you.”

“.....” Craig looked at her, I can see his eyes watering a bit.

“So honey...if you’re watching us, I hope you’re happy. As long as you’re happy, then I’m happy,” Mrs. Tucker smiled, tears falling from her eyes.

“.....”

I looked at Craig before I spoke again, “Craig...do you have anything to say to your grandma?” I asked.

Craig looked at me before looking at his grandma, he looked at me again, and I nodded. “....Grandma...I missed you too...and I am happy, so please...be happy too,” Craig said.

I repeated the message to Mrs. Tucker, who had a smile on her face. She was holding back tears as she sat back, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Craig also says...he’s always with you, Mrs. Tucker, he’s always been with you,” I said.

Mrs. Tucker smiled, “I always had a feeling he was around….” Mrs. Tucker began to cry harder.

I pretended to close the call with the spirit world and just walked over to Mrs. Tucker, I placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, I noticed that Craig has also walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder as well. I looked at him, he looked at me, we both didn’t say anything, just watched Mrs. Tucker crying, looking a bit more relieved.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Tucker said, grabbing my hand, “thank you…” I smiled, before placing my hand on hers.

“...Thank you,” Craig whispered, his voice echoing in my ears.

I looked at him from the corner of my eyes, but kept most of my focus on Mrs. Tucker. “You’re welcome,” both of you.

After a week has passed, Mrs. Tucker has shown symptoms that she wasn’t doing so well, so no one, except for the nurses and doctors, were allowed to be in her room, however, I knew that Craig was staying with her the entire time she wasn’t feeling well.

On the day she was announced dead, I was sitting in the empty lounge room, trying my best to not cry. The TV was on, and an episode of Red Racer just so happened to be on. I watched it a bit, but it was kinda hard to focus with tears in my eyes.

Finally, I hear footsteps coming my way, and when I turned around, I saw Craig, standing at the entrance. His eyes were sad, and yet, full of life.

We didn’t say anything, I just stood up, walked over towards him, while he just stood there, his head down. Once I was near, I grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug, holding him tightly. Craig stiffened in my arms, but soon relaxed, he then wrapped his arms around me as I hear him sniffling and quietly crying to himself.

“It’s okay...it’s okay,” I whispered as I kissed the side of his head.

“She told me...I looked handsome...before she left,” Craig trembled.

“That’s nice,” I smiled, my own tears falling as I held him tightly. I pulled out his hat and placed it back on his head, Craig held me tighter as he buried his face against the crook of my neck. I chuckled as I continued to hug him.

At that moment, I didn’t care if someone walked by and saw me hugging air, I just know that Craig needed me at that moment. I will always be there for Craig, and I know he’ll always be there for me.

* * *

A few weeks have passed since Craig’s grandmother passed away, and things were starting to get back to normal. Craig seemed to be happy that he finally got to say goodbye to his grandmother, and though he will get sad at times whenever he thinks about his grandmother, he was still the reaper I came to know. Though late, he’s been quite affectionate than usual, placing his head on my shoulder, hugging me quite often, and even giving me a few kisses on the cheek.

...Not that I was complaining.

“What is this again?” Craig asked.

“It’s just a guinea pig compilation on YouTube. It just has a bunch of clips of guinea pigs being cute,” I said as I played the video.

“I already love this,” Craig said as he leaned his head against my shoulder.

I blushed at how close we were, but said nothing, just watched the video on my phone in the empty hallway.

I don’t know why, but every time I’m with Craig lately, my heart would beat so fast, but not in the way when you’re basically face to face with the grim reaper, but more that my palms are sweaty, my cheeks are warm, and my stomach was in a knot.

Being with Craig has always been calming, but now...I just can’t stop thinking about him.

Suddenly, I get an email, and the notification blocks half the screen. I could see that the email was from my college that I would be attending after the summer.

“Is that the name from your school?” Craig asked.

“It seems so,” I sighed as I read the email, seeing it was just a confirmation that my books were ordered for my first semester. “God...I almost forgot that summer is almost over, and I’ll be leaving soon,” I said.

“Where is your school anyways?” Craig asked.

“It’s in Denver,” I sighed. “It’s a two hour drive from here.”

“Huh...so that’s a total of four hours just to go all the way there and back here. That’s gonna be tiring,” Craig said.

“....Actually...I won’t be coming back home that often,” I said.

“What?” Craig looked at me, he lifted his head off my shoulder.

I sighed, “I’m planning to live in the dorms at my new school, I’m going to be moving to Denver once school starts,” I said.

“So...you’re not coming back?” Craig asked.

“No, of course I am! I’ll be back home during breaks and holidays,” I smiled.

“But you won’t be able to see me,” Craig said.

“That’s not true, I’ll always come here to visit the seniors, the staff, and especially you,” I smiled, placing my hands on his cheeks.

“Yeah, but you know they close early during the holidays and weekends,” Craig sighed, “besides...don’t you want to spend more time with your family?”

“Craig,” I leaned forward until our foreheads were touching, “I’ll always come back for you, you know that. You’re way too important for me to let go and never see again.”

“....You promise you’ll come back to see me?” Craig asked.

“I promise,” I smiled, “no matter what, I’ll always be there for you,” I smiled.

When Craig looked me in the eyes, I can see that they were filled with so much life compared to the first day I met him. However, something seemed off. His eyes were now very familiar, as if...I’ve seen those eyes before.

My heart was beating fast as I stared at him, our faces close together. I can feel the sweat forming on the back of my neck as I looked at him and his eyes. Even though he had such pale skin, he was still good looking. If I leaned a bit more forward, our lips would almost be touching….

My phone alarm went off, telling me that my break was over. Craig noticed it and pulled away, he gave me a small pat on my shoulders before getting up, while I sat there, feeling embarrassed.

“You better get back to work,” Craig said as he offered me his hand.

“....Right,” I said as I took his hand, he helped me get up and started to leave. “Wait!”

“...?” Craig turned to look at me, “what is it?”

“....” I don’t know why I stopped him, but this nagging feeling in my head won’t go away, and my heart was pounding in my chest, “...have we...met before?” I asked.

“....What do you mean?”

“Before...I came here...did we...know each other before?” I asked.

“Well Tweek, I don’t have much memory of my time as a human, and I don’t remember meeting you aside from that day you started volunteering here.”

“...Right,” I said, looking down, “I must be...thinking about something else…”

“Are you alright?” Craig asked.

“I’m fine...I just...I’m overthinking about something,” I said.

Craig nodded before turning and leaving. Once he was gone, that feeling I had was still there.

Craig….did I know you before?

Later that night, I was having trouble sleeping. I couldn’t shake this feeling I’ve been having all day. No matter how hard I try to ignore it, I couldn’t.

As I laid down on my bed, I suddenly thought of my time at the hospital, the time when I was close to death. I usually try not to remember that day, but for some reason, I couldn’t help but think about it.

I remember the pain I felt all over my body, how every breath I made felt like inhaling glass, how my vision was fading before me. I remember how much I cried and begged to stay alive, not wanting to die. How before my vision went away, I remember seeing….a pair of blue eyes….

“....” My eyes widened at the realization. He was there, he really was there! Why did he lie?

I sat up from my bed, no longer able to sleep. All I could think about was why he was there that day? Did he have anything to do with my life being saved from death?

All these questions filled my head, and I knew I couldn’t wait to hear the answers. I grabbed my jacket and put on my shoes, I then left my house and headed straight for the nursing home.

Once I reached the nursing home, I noticed that the doors were closed and I couldn’t see anyone inside, so I called out for Craig, not caring if my voice was loud or if anyone was going to hear, I just needed him to show up.

After about a minute of calling him, I see him in front of the doors, staring at me in confusion.

“Tweek, what are you doing here? It’s late,” Craig said.

“You were there, weren’t you?” I said.

Craig paused, “what are you talking about?”

“When I was ten, and about to die...you were there, weren’t you?” I asked.

“.....I don’t-”

“Don’t lie to me, Craig!” I felt tears in my eyes, “please...tell me the truth,” I said.

“....” Craig sighed before pulling down his hoodie, “yeah...I was there,” Craig said.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked.

Craig shrugged, “I didn’t think I needed to say anything. You’re living the life you wanted, right? Why would it matter if I was there or not.”

“....Then...did you have something to do with my ‘miracle?’” I asked.

“.....” Craig sighed, “a little…”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“It’s really not a big deal, Tweek, so why-”

“Tell me...please,” I said, feeling tears in my eyes.

“....” Craig closed his eyes before taking a deep breath, “I died in that same hospital, a few minutes before you were about to die. The reaper that was there was taking me to my afterlife, and just so happened...you were there, also dying. When I saw you...I could see you were in a lot of pain, just like I was, and I can see how much you were trying to cling for life. Seeing you there, trying to live, well...I felt something. I thought...that it was already too late for me at that point...but maybe...there was hope for you,” Craig said.

“....What happened?” I asked.

Craig looked at me, his eyes were blank, “I gave up my chance to go to Heaven...to save your life,” Craig said.

“What? What about the whole chaos thing if someone doesn’t die!? You said that!”

“The reaper explained that to me when I asked him to save you, however, when I begged him to save your life, he told me that there was one way to prevent the chaos on the world. He told me that if I gave up my soul from going to Heaven, and become...a reaper...then...you’ll live, but for me...I can never go to Heaven, I’ll remain on Earth, reaping souls, and watching everyone around me die,” Craig said. “So after thinking about it, I agreed. I gave up my chance...and became a reaper...to save you.”

I was crying at this point as I stared at him, my hands were trembling as I stared at him, “why would you do that...for me?” Tweek asked.

“....Because...when I was dying...I also wished to live my life a little longer...and wished someone would save me...but since no one did...I thought I might as well save you and give you the life you deserve. Everyone deserves to live their lives, they shouldn’t die before their lives officially got started,” Craig said.

I looked at him, tears falling down my cheeks as I kept sobbing. If he wasn’t there to save me, then I would be dead, I would never have made the friends I have now, I would have never been able to experience so much in my life, I would have never gotten this volunteer job, and I especially would have never been able to meet Craig.

“So the reason I can see you is because...you saved me…” I said.

Craig smiled, “seems like it,” Craig said.

“Nnngg….I’m so sorry...I’m so sorry that you had to save me...and ruin your chances of being with your family,” I said.

Craig walked over and placed his hand on my head, petting me gently, “it’s okay. To me...even though I can’t see my family, even after they have all died...I know they’re watching. I can feel grandma watching over me right now, and I can tell she’s smiling. So never think that it’s your fault,” Craig said.

“Nnnng….” I looked at him through my tears, “thank you...thank you for saving me,” I sniffled as I try to stop crying, “thank you...thank you so much…”

“....” Craig smiled as he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. “It’s okay...don’t cry...don’t cry…” Craig whispered, his voice was so gentle in my ears.

I wrapped my arms around him, thanking him over and over again, crying against his chest. All this time, I thought I was looking after him, but turns out, Craig has been looking after me too, even before we met here.

No matter what, I’ll always thank Craig for what he has done for me, I’ll treasure my life until I die, and I’ll always keep Craig close to my heart.

A few weeks later, I moved away from South Park and got ready for my first semester at college.

* * *

It’s been a month since I started college, and though my classes at the moment weren’t too tough, the amount of work I do receive is kinda tiring, but I guess that’s college life for you.

I was currently in my dorm room, my roommate was currently out with his friends. He did invite me to hang out with him, but I was too tired from working on a project of mine to really go anywhere, so declined. That just meant I had the whole place to myself for awhile, and knowing my roommate, he was probably going to come back around midnight.

I sat on the couch, watching a rerun special of Red Racer, I suddenly started becoming a fan of this show, even if this show was meant for little kids. No one’s judging, so it’s fine. As I sat there, eating some popcorn, I suddenly hear a knock at my door.

Confused, especially since it was late and I wasn’t really expecting any visitors, I walked over towards the door, wondering if it’s my roommate coming back early and just forgot his keys.

I froze when I see a peephole on the door. None of the dorm rooms in this place have peepholes, especially when we have security downstairs who would take in packages and call us if there was a guest that isn’t living in the dorms, so there was no need for a peephole, and I’m sure neither I or my roommate installed a peephole.

“.....” I walked over, looked through the peephole, and saw a black hooded figure on the other side. My heart was pounding as I felt my hands trembling.

“Tweek...let me in…” A deep voice whispered into my ears.

I gulped as I found myself moving, opening the door and letting the hooded man inside my dorm.

“R-reaper...why have you come here?” I asked, feeling my hands trembling.

“I’ve...come for you...Tweek,” the reaper said. My eyes widened as I backed away. Suddenly, the hooded figure grabbed his hood and pulled it down, the first thing I noticed was a hat made out of blue yarn with yellow tassles on top.

“Craig?” I said, my fear fading away.

Craig looked at me before smiling, “surprise.”

“Craig!” I ran up to him before wrapping my arms around him, hugging him tightly, “what are you doing here? How are you here!?”

“Well...I requested a day off to come and see you,” Craig smiled.

“You can do that?” I asked.

“Well...no...but...since no one is scheduled to die at the nursing home, and no one is around to tell me otherwise, I thought I’d just come here and visit you,” Craig smiled.

“You came all the way here just to see me?” I asked.

“I missed you,” Craig said.

I looked at him, feeling my heart pounding. I smiled as I hugged him tightly, “I missed you too.”

“When are you going to come back to South Park? It’s boring over there at the nursing home,” Craig sighed.

“Well if you have the power to come here so quickly, then why don’t you just visit me?” I asked.

“I would, but it’s such a pain to come all the way over here,” Craig sighed.

“How? I’ve seen you coming over to my place with a snap of your fingers, don’t lie to me,” I chuckled.

“I know, but...South Park is your home, our home, don’t forget that,” Craig said.

I smiled, “I won’t,” I said. “So how long you planning on staying here with me?” I asked.

“Maybe two days? It’s really slow over there. Old people really take a long time to die,” Craig said.

“I...don’t even want to comment on what you just said,” I sighed.

“....What are you studying anyways, Tweek?” Craig asked, “I realized I never asked you what your major is.”

I smiled, “well...if you must know...I’m getting a nursing degree, so that way I can one day...I don’t know...work at a certain nursing home, and you might be able to see me all time and much longer?” I smiled.

“Really?” Craig’s eyes lightened up.

I grinned, “well I loved being there, and I love the people there...and I love...you,” I said.

“....” Craig looked at me, while I was blushing in embarrassment. “Did you...just…”

“I-I know it’s weird...especially since I’m a human and you’re...well...a reaper, but...I like you Craig, and I want to be with you...forever,” I smiled, “b-but...if this is too much for you, then I’ll understand, and we can just forget what I said and-” Craig grabbed my chin and suddenly leaned forward to kiss me. My eyes widened and my face was completely red the moment his lips were on mine.

When Craig pulled away, I saw that his cheeks were red, and his eyes were full of life...and something else. “I like you too...took you long enough to say something…”

“....You knew?” I asked.

“I maybe a reaper, and know everything when it comes to death, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few things here and there,” Craig said.

“....” I smiled, “I guess I have another reason to visit you more often,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“Looks like it,” Craig smiled as he hugged me. Craig leaned forward and kissed me again, this time I kissed back.

To most, seeing the grim reaper might cause you panic, might make you feel so much dread, and you might even run away, but to me, knowing that there was only one reaper that makes my heart skip a beat, I know that I no longer feared the grim reaper because I know that even after death, I’ll never be alone.

**_The End._ **


End file.
